Alkaloids as Antimalarial Compounds: A Review of Recent Studies

Malaria is a parasitic infection caused by Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria continues to contribute unacceptably high rates of sickness and death. Natural product compounds have long been recognized as one of the valuable natural remedy resources with promising structural motif pools for the development of first-line drugs. Resistance to conventional treatments such as chloroquine, mefloquine, and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) by the causal agent, the Plasmodium parasite, is a major concern in malaria treatment and prevention globally. Given the parasites' resistance to several current treatment regimens, innovative antimalarial chemotherapeutic medicines derived from tetramic acid alkaloids are desperately needed. In this review, new and old antimalarial alkaloids identified and reported recently from 2017 to 2021 are presented. Several compounds with promising antimalarial activity are identified from several subclasses of alkaloids. It is hoped that this review report will inspire future research into the toxicity and in vivo efficacy of the compounds, to exploit this intriguing compound as antimalarial drugs.